Council OKs $100,000 grant to expand reservoir trail

Norwalk city council has agreed to use a $100,000 state grant to expand a trail at the rear of Veterans Memorial Lake Park.

Council members last week unanimously passed a resolution about an Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) grant, which requires no matching funds from Norwalk. The capital improvement community park improvement project is for Phase II of the Alex Waite Trail. The new resolution authorizes Norwalk Mayor Rob Duncan and public works director Josh Snyder to advertise and receive bids plus a contract authorization for the project.

The ODNR reimbursement grant includes $98,000 for the project and $2,000 to be paid to ODNR as an administrative fee, finance director Michelle Reeder wrote in a Feb. 20 letter to Duncan.

“We will get 100 percent of that reimbursed,” Reeder said told council members earlier.

The path at the rear of Veterans Memorial Lake Park near the bathrooms will be expanded by three-quarters of a mile.

In other action at Tuesday’s meeting, council passed a resolution so the city can advertise and receive bids for the Wooster and Marshall streets sewer separation project. The legislation also allows the authorization of a contract after the bidding process.

Phase VII of the project covers the far eastern portion of East Franklin Street as well as Lee Avenue, Lee Court and part of Linwood Avenue. Snyder has said this should be the last part of the project.

Also, council authorized the city to advertise and receive bids for a contract for the application and land application of “digested sludge.” Snyder told council that the process should eliminate 800,000 to 1 million gallons of the material. The city also is authorized to create a contract after the bidding process.

“We included a multi-year (stipulation) in the contract,” added the engineer, who noted that will help the city lock in favorable prices.

During the Feb. 26 work session by council, Snyder said the sludge is an end product that farmers use for top soil and consists of the solid matter that cannot be discharged into the stream. Since the 2019 budget calls for the removal to exceed $50,000, the work needs to go out for bids. Snyder also said the future cost is undetermined, but the biggest expense is trucking.